2 Turkish soldiers martyred in southeast bomb attack

MARDIN, Turkey

A third Turkish soldier was martyred in a PKK terrorist bomb attack in southeast Turkey on Sunday, the military said.

He was among five injured when an improvised explosive device was detonated in Nusaybin, a town on the Syrian border in Mardin province, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

Earlier the military said two soldiers had succumbed to their wounds.

The soldiers were carrying out a counter-terrorism operation in the town when they were wounded. “The injured were immediately taken to hospital but despite all interventions our two heroes became martyrs at 14.30 [11.30 GMT],” an initial statement said, which was later updated to say the third soldier had died in hospital at 6.15 p.m. local time (15.15GMT).

The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July, since when more than 430 members of the security forces have been martyred and more than 3,800 PKK terrorists killed.

Nusaybin is one of numerous towns in the south east that have been the subject of anti-terrorism measures as troops and police attempt to drive them out.